Toronto City Council candidate facing backlash over plan to close King West club

A Toronto City Council candidate has drawn ire on social media for his plan to shut down a King West nightclub.

Arber Puci, a candidate for Spadina-Fort York, announced on social media that, if elected, he would bring peace to the corner of King West and Niagara by closing Hyde Social.

“I am promising to the residents of King West that as my first action as councillor, I will shut down Hyde Social so you can finally get a good night’s sleep,” Puci tweeted.

Hyde Social, located at 803 King Street West, opened at the base of Citysphere Condominiums in June. Puci said it’s been “leaving 100s of residents sleepless” ever since.

Videos shared on Hyde Social’s Instagram page show long lines of patrons winding down King Street West, and an interior consisting of DJs, dancing, and bottle service.

Tory Lanez hosted his birthday party at the venue in July, and Swae Lee was pictured at the club just last week.

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Despite Puci’s intentions, his announcement was met with backlash from Toronto residents.

“We need councillors who are supporting spaces for culture to flourish in the city, not stamp it out,” one user tweeted. “This guy represents what is wrong with Toronto municipal politics.”

Several suggested he focus his noise-cancelling efforts on loud vehicles and aggressive drivers instead of targeting a single business.

What a buzzkill. The city is losing music venues at a rapid rate. Sad to see this being your first action as councilor.

— torontojungle (@torontojungle) September 22, 2022

a night club on king w is “on the wrong place”

bro where u from

— davenport & oakwood (@foothillsTO) September 22, 2022

Mandatory 8 pm bed time with warm milk and goodnight moon

— vampire_milhouse (@smallsodas) September 21, 2022

You won’t get my vote. And I’ll be actively campaigning against you now

— Joe L (@Jarrett_San) September 22, 2022

Based on the response Puci’s plan has received, it seems clear that, as one Twitter user put it, no one wants that.

Daily Hive has reached out to the City of Toronto for comment and will update this story accordingly.